SYDNEY (Reuters) – The Australian Labor party will topple the ruling conservatives at a national election although it may have to form a minority government, the Australian Broadcasting Corp said on Saturday.
Initial vote counts showed Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s conservative coalition and the Labor opposition losing ground to smaller parties like the environment-focused Greens and climate-focussed independents.
Neither of the major parties appeared certain to win the minimum 76 seats required for a majority in the 151-seat parliament, but Labor appeared on track to win more than 70 seats, the ABC said.
“Labor is 72 and needs 76 seats to govern. There are 11 members of the crossbench, most of whom support action on climate change,” said ABC election analyst Antony Green in a live broadcast.
“If Labor falls short and it wants to form government, it can talk to the Greens or it can talk to the crossbench.”
Cable television station Sky News ran a chyron which said: “Labor tracking towards election victory”.
(Reporting by Byron Kaye; editing by David Evans)
